Wade in the Freedom
by Fanfictionar3
Summary: What happens to Alex after Orange's worst cliff-hanger yet in season 3?
1. Chapter 1: Lake Crazy

**Disclaimer: I do not own Orange is the New Black or any of its characters.**

 **Warning: contains spoilers. If you haven't seen season 3, don't read.**

 **Chapter One: Lake Crazy**

"You don't have to do this."

"Yeah, I do."

He reached for his gun.

Alex kicked him in the crotch and he yelled.

He punched her in the face. Alex saw stars and felt warmth begin to build and gush from her face.

The door screeched open. Lolli was standing there, the confusion that was always perpetually on her face changing to surprise. Luckily for Alex, the psychotic bitch was paranoid enough to be carrying a plastic fork shank in her underwear.

"Lolli, Help me," Alex said.

Lolli ran at him, and shoved the shank into his liver. He screamed. Alex raised the broom, and hit him over the head with it. He toppled to the floor.

"Lolli, hurry."

Lolli shoved the shank into his throat.

Blood poured from his neck and Alex began to feel lightheaded.

Lolli stood up, panting, holding the bloody shank at her side. "They must have found out you were working with me."

Alex pressed her fingers to her forehead, resisting the urge to faint. "Come on, we've got to get him out of here. If they find the body...if they find out who did this...we're going straight to SHU."

"Oh, that's no problem. We'll just take him to the lake."

"What?!" Alex eyebrow's creased together, assuming she was about to hear about another one of Lolli's delusions.

Lolli took Alex's arm. Alex made a face at the contact, but allowed herself to be steered outside before she pulled away, Lolli had just saved her life.

Lolli gestured to the fence. "Freedom!"

"Oh my god," Alex said smiling. "That's brilliant."

Alex helped Lolli drag the body down to the lake. A few heads turned to stare, but she was Alex, so no one asked her any questions. Most of the inmates were so caught up in the utter bliss of the water of freedom that they didn't allow themselves to be disrupted by the sight of death.

Alex narrowed her eyes, and scanned the crowds of people laughing and splashing about, taking their places in new religions...

Her heart started pounding. She couldn't see Piper anywhere.

She helped Lolli lower the body into the water. "Make sure it sinks down, bury it with sand." Alex didn't want to think of the body as a human being that they had just killed. From being a drug dealer, she had learned that when something was beyond help, it was better to think of it as a thing, rather than a creature. "I'll be right back. And Lolli -thanks so much for everything. You saved my life."

Loili beamed through her glasses, and Alex felt just a little better.

"You're my fellow agent, I was just doing my job."

Alex smiled in barely contained amusement.

Her happiness hardened on her face to stone cold determination as she marched toward Litchfield.

~A~A~A~

Piper sat on her bunk, fingering the white letters of her new tattoo. The skin around it had rose into red, little irritated bumps. She didn't regret the tattoo, it was part of herself. Weirdly, the pain of it had been the best part. Piper didn't want to get rid of it, but she wanted to edit it. To add an artistic element to the letters, maybe put black in them so they were more noticeable, or blot it out all together...

"Trust no bitch."

Said a dark, gorgeous familiar voice. Piper felt warmth travel down her neck before she even looked up.

Alex was standing over her, eyebrow raised.

Alex sat down on the bunk opposite Piper. "That's a nice tattoo you got there."

"I-" Piper was momentarily speechless. Alex had blood all over her face. _What the hell happened to her?_ Then her eyes narrowed, why should she care? She probably just attack another innocent crazy person. "You shouldn't mess with me Vause. I sent Stella to SHU, you better watch your back."

Alex laughed, but there was a bitter note in it. "So Justin Bieber's gone? What, and she gave you the tattoo." It wasn't a question. Alex never needed to ask questions about Piper, she could read her like a book, almost always.

Piper looked down at the tattoo again, a slight pout appearing on her face.

"Piper," Alex said leaning forward slightly, and using Piper's preoccupation with her tattoo as an excuse to change the subject. "The fence in the field is down. I'm breaking out. I want you to come with me."

"Are you crazy?!"

Alex shook her head. "No. Actually I'm not." An ironic grin played at the corners of her lips. "You were right Piper, Kubra didn't send an inmate to kill me. But I was right too. He sent one of his hit-man to become a guard. If it wasn't for that crazy bitch Lolli, I would be dead Piper. Honestly, I should be dead." Alex raised her shoulders. "The only reason that I can think of that I'm not is, he must have thought it would be so easy to kill me that he didn't fully prepare himself." Alex let her shoulders down.

Piper's eyes were large. "Alex I- I'm so sorry I- I didn't know.. I didn't think, I really was trying to protect you."

Alex shook her head. "We can talk about it later. If you want to come that is. I'm not forcing you."

Piper's mouth hung open as she let out a sigh. Then she closed it, grit her teeth and met Alex's eyes. "I'll go with you, and this time, if anyone else tries to kill you, I swear I will kill them before they can even tense a muscle."

 **Author's Note: This is probably a one-shot. I wrote it because of the horrible cliff-hanger at the end of season 3. Orange always has the worst cliff-hangers. I don't know how the show will handle this, but if they kill Alex, I'm not watching season 4.**


	2. Don't you worry there's still time

**Chapter Two**

Alex knew it was selfish to bring Piper with her. But it wasn't as selfish as what Piper did. Out in the real world, Alex had a fighting chance to protect them both. In Litchfield she was trapped. It didn't matter that the "guard" was dead. Kubra would send someone else. And if she got put in SHU she wouldn't even be safe there, because that would make it even easier for a guard to kill her.

Her only option was to completely disappear. Piper was her only family left. Even if they didn't end up together in the end, she wasn't ready to say goodbye to her forever yet. She could almost justify bringing her by all of the cruel things Piper had done to her. Alex scoffed to herself. Everyone wanted to believe they were a good person.

"I have some money stashed away," Alex said. "It should be enough for us to live, pretty comfortably for a few years."

Piper looked around nervously. They were sitting on a fallen tree trunk in the woods, waiting for one of Alex's "friends" to pick them up. Alex had used Piper's prison phone to call them. They were apparently a tech whizz, and had been able to get their coordinates from the phone.

"I know a guy who can make us fake IDs, more than that actually. We can be out of the country in a day. We can have new identities in a week."

Alex took Piper's hand, but looked into her eyes, asking for permission. Piper looked back, just as questioningly, until finally, she made a decision and rested her head on Alex's shoulder.

Now that they were outside of prison, alone together in the forest, Piper felt the identity that she had constructed for herself, the tough cruel bitch in charge, crumble away. It left her feeling vulnerable. But also a bit less pissed off.

"Why didn't you do this before? Why did you even go to prison?"

Alex shrugged and smirked. "I was turning over a new leaf. After you left...after my mother died...a lot of shit went down. It wasn't even approaching the word "fun" anymore. It was terrifying. I thought that maybe, if I played by the rules the rules would protect me, you know?" Alex scoffed sadly. "Justice is fucked, but if Kubra can run free, then so can we."

"So your still that wild, bad-ass criminal I fell in love with," Piper smirked. She looked up and touched the blood on Alex's face. "I can't believe what that bastard did to you. I wish he was still alive so I could strangle him with my bare hands."

"God aren't you bloodthirsty," Alex scoffed and smiled. _And where was all that protectiveness when I needed you?_ Alex thought. _Oh_ _yeah, I forgot, my paranoia wasn't hot for you. You only like me when I'm covered in the blood of my enemies._

Piper looked at her seriously. "I really am sorry."

Alex shrugged. "Prison can do strange things to people. Sometimes, when people have to live in horrible conditions, when their not even treated like they are human, they do things that they never would have thought they were capable of. You didn't have any power in there. So you got it wherever you could."

"Can you forgive me?"

"Forgiveness takes time. But luckily, we have a lot of that now."

Piper nodded. She still had a lot that she needed to forgive Alex for. There relationship could never be without conflict, it was too passionate for that. But maybe, working together to survive would bring them back to each other, in a way that they hadn't been with each other in years.

-A-P-A-

They stayed in a pretty shitty motel. They changed their clothes on the ride there. They didn't stay at the motel just for lack of money (it would take time for Alex to retrieve her cash from whatever bank account she had hidden it in) they stayed their more so that they would be less likely to have questions asked, to be traceable, to be found.

"I'll sleep on the floor," Alex said.

"Don't be ridiculous," Piper said.

"Technically, we're still not back together," Alex teased.

"Fuck you."

Alex's smile widened. "God, it's been so long since we've slept together."

"I didn't miss it."

"Really?" Alex raised an eyebrow.

"No."

They slipped into bed and Alex held Piper tightly. Piper dreamed of sunshine and the sound of water dripping off of distant roses.

-A-P-A-P-

"So, wait, how did you get the body past all of those people?" Piper asked. They were on a long road trip, and so Alex took the opportunity to go into more detail about her story.

Alex shrugged. "The yard was completely empty when we left the shed. Not a guard in sight. We went through the forest down to the water, got there pretty fast. If anyone did see us, they must just have not realized he was dead, thought it was a joke or something. Sometimes, people don't see what's right in front of them, they refuse to look, because it would disrupt the sunny day."

Piper leaned closer to Alex. "You never do."

Alex let out a small laugh and closed the distance for the kiss. Kissing Piper, looking into her large eyes. She had missed her kiss, but not so much that it hurt too much to love.

Being kissed by Alex, being held by her protective assertive lips, a butterfly of happiness came alive in Piper.

Alex rested her head on Piper's shoulder, and Piper placed a protective arm around Alex. As much as it hurt her, because she wasn't sure how, she would support Alex. She wouldn't let her own weakness destroy the love of her life.

 **Author's Note: Okay so I lied, it's not a one-shot. Half lied I guess. I just read over the first chapter and thought it was lacking enough detail for it to qualify as shitty writing. This chapter wasn't that great either, but that's mostly because I'm still stuck in the emotional pain that is season 3. I mean seriously, Laura Prepon deserves like 500 Oscars just for her expression when Alex watches her friend get shot, and like a million more for her whole performance as Alex's character.**

 **Okay so, I hope this was somewhat readable. Review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

"Rise and shine sleeping beauty."

Piper felt soft lips kiss from her forehead to her cheek.

She groaned and opened her eyes, smiling reflexively as she looked into Alex's. "Really? Aurora is not my Disney princess."

"She totally is," Alex laughed. "You never like to get out of bed."

Piper caught Alex's lips with her own, before they could travel down her neck.

Alex kissed her jawline.

"You know, you don't really have a Disney princess," Piper said.

"No?"

"No. No one's as tall and hot as you are."

Alex laughed. "I take that back, maybe you are a morning person."

"I mean there's Meg," Piper said. "She shares similar qualities with you."

"Meg? Like from Hercules."

Piper took Alex's hand and traced her fingers. "Yeah," she was having doubts about explaining it all the way, but knew she had already traveled too far into the conversation to back out of it. "You both were manipulated by bad people," Piper said carefully. "But in the end found your way out of it."

The light went out of Alex's face at the thought of Kubra, and she reached for her glasses. "Come on, we have another long road trip today."

"I kinda wish your friends weren't always around, so we could have more privacy."

Alex shrugged and smiled. "Me too. They can get really annoying actually."

"I think we'll miss them more when they're gone."

"Yeah..." Alex thought for a moment. "It's going to be weird Piper. I mean, not weird saying goodbye to them, I'm used to having friends come and go. But having to stay in one place?"

"It can't be worse than Litchfeild." Piper said.

Alex smiled and raised a brow. "Litchfeild wasn't all bad. At least you were there."

"Yup, at least I was there." Piper smiled and nodded. "At least we had each other, and we'll have each other now, and through all of this."

"You promise?" Alex's eyes carried a touch of vulnerability.

"Al, I'm not leaving again. I promise."

-A-P-A-

Piper had always hated airports. They made her nervous. She loved traveling though, as soon as the plane was off the runway she was fine. But inside the airport, she felt trapped, in the crowds of people hurrying around impatient to get out of there and to their next destination.

Her feelings were only amplified by the fact that her and Alex were carrying fake passports, and wearing brown wigs. Brown hair fit in the most. Alex was an expert in disguise, but Piper was sure that Alex was too gorgeous to ever not stand out.

This reminded her of carrying drug money.

She tried to keep from shaking as they went through security. She bit the inside of her lip and remembered the look on Flaca's face when she had humiliated her, she thought of sending Stella to SHU. She focused on the power, the coldness. She couldn't hold Alex's hand. Their fake information said that they were sisters. Alex promised to get that changed once they got to Cambodia, but for now, in the airport, it drew less attention this way.

On the plane, Piper sat back in her chair, and took Alex's hand. She had the sun on her face from the open window. Alex knew that if she didn't have that wig, the sun would light up her hair and make her look like a sunshiny angel.

"So, do you know what kind of house you want?" Alex said. "We'll have to go shopping when we get there. For now I booked a really nice hotel, but we can't stay there forever."

Piper smiled. "I haven't even thought about that. Where we will live. I've been so focused on getting out. On _you._ But yeah. Its kind of exciting right? Its like everything we did wrong, we can fix it now."

"Yeah, prison had to be good for something."

Piper turned toward Alex and opened her eyes. Something had been nagging at the back of her head for so long. "Alex...don't take this the wrong way. This is going to come off as, possibly the most narcissistic thing I've ever said but...did you...oh my god, never mind its so stupid."

"Did I get you landed in prison so that I could see you again?"

"How...?" _Did you know I was going to say that?_ Piper finished the thought in her head.

"Piper, I didn't lie to you when I explained it to you the first time. I may have lied other times, but I was honest then, and I'm trying to be honest now. I can't say that I _didn't_ want to see you again. But its possible for people to move on. Even when they don't...fully."

"It was stupid."

"It's not stupid. I missed you Pipes, I really did."

"I missed you too," Piper said softly. "I just couldn't...Alex, you have to admit that in the beginning it wasn't exactly love at first sight. You seduced me, specifically for the reason of using me as a drug mule."

"Yeah, but I fell in love with you along the way. And it doesn't mean that I didn't love you the first time that I saw you. You were different Piper, you were always different. Why do you think I asked you to come with me? To disappear into the universe together."

"I know, I know that now. But what I'm saying is, I left because I had doubts. Our relationship, the way we built it, it was like, doubts were weaved into its foundation. I don't want that to happen again. We have to do this, we have to build this, thing, this life together, we have to build it right, this time."

"I know," Alex took her hand and kissed it. "And as messed up as we are, we can do this Piper."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

"I know what we should do," Piper said. They were on the taxi to the hotel, and had changed into their new identities, Alex wore a short haired blonde wig, and Piper wore a long haired black wig. They smiled at the irony, but at least in the hotel they were registered as a couple. Piper would be relieved after they bought a house and didn't have to keep wearing disguises. "We should get tattoos."

"Tattoos? What like you and Stella?"

Piper regretted bringing that up immediately. "No, god no. I mean, I need a new tattoo to cover up my old one," 'trust no bitch' wasn't exactly inconspicuous, they had covered it with make-up for their journey, but it would be annoying if Piper had to keep covering it up. "And I want something to mark us being together again, to celebrate it."

"Like your fish tattoo?"

"Yeah, like that."

Alex smiled. "I got my first tattoo when I was sixteen."

"I know, your mom was so cool."

"Hah, no, she was pissed off, that's what she was."

"I can't imagine what my mom would have done if I had gotten a tattoo at that age. Probably not talk to me for a month. Though she did that sometimes anyway. I still remember that time she found those magazines under my bed..."

"And you said they were your brothers," Alex laughed. "'Why were they in your room?' 'I don't know why that perv does what he does'"

Piper laughed with Alex.

"You already know all of my stories," Piper said.

"We'll just have to make new ones." Alex smiled and looked at Piper, that adoring look that seems to be reserved for Piper only. "God Piper, its amazing to me how normal you turned out, considering the parents you had."

"I'm normal?"

"Haha, no, maybe not completely." Alex smiled and winked. "That panty business was, pretty unique."

Piper pushed her shoulder playfully. "Shut up."

"Hey, its a good thing. With you I'm never bored."

Alex really loved her mom. Like, she had a really awesome mom.

Alex had her first girlfriend when she was still in grade school, and had known she liked girls long before then. But like most children, she had grown up in an environment that instilled the belief that there was something wrong with her. Whenever someone in middle school was hated and left out, people would start a rumor that they were lesbian, even if they weren't. Because in middle school, apparently being a lesbian was the worst thing you could be. Fortunately not all schools are like this anymore, but Alex's schools were.

One of the popular girls on the soccer team had gotten a crush on her. Alex was excluded at school because of her clothes, but she had never been ugly.

Alex used to sit on the bleachers when the soccer team was practicing. She would bring a magazine or a book, and look over the top of it. That girl had been really good at soccer. Graceful, captivating.

One time she had come into the girl's bathroom. It was just the two of them. She demanded that Alex give her her lunch money. Alex told her that was childish. The girl had kissed her, "you fucking lesbian," she said, and ran out of the bathroom.

She could only express her feelings for Alex through bullying, at first.

Alex had finally convinced her to go on a date with her. The girl liked her, but was afraid of them being caught. She didn't want her reputation to be ruined. Alex had promised that her mom wouldn't be home, she would be at work.

Her mom came home early that day, because it was Alex's birthday, and she caught them kissing.

"Love is the most beautiful thing in the world," Diane had said. "You should never be ashamed of it."

Alex's mom had always supported her. It was why she was so confident and self-assured. It didn't matter that the world tended to be against her. Her identity was validated.

Piper had never been as comfortable in her own skin. It was her supportive friends that had given her the confidence she had. Polly could be self-centered, but she never judged Piper for being bisexual.

The hotel room had a really nice bed. Piper used to like sleeping in hotel rooms more than anywhere else, it used to be easier for her to fall asleep, but that was before she had met Alex. When she was with Alex, she didn't sleep much, but somehow felt much better in the mornings and more awake then she ever did on a full nights sleep without her.

Alex looked into Piper's eyes to make sure that she wanted this as much as she did, and seeing that she did from the glowing lust in Piper's eyes, she pushed her onto the bed.

It was so good to feel Alex on top of her again.

Each of her kisses seemed to erase a day of the eight years that they had spent apart. It seemed that they would spend the rest of their lives erasing those years over and over again.

Piper pulled her fingers through Alex's black hair, so glad that their disguises were gone, that Alex looked like Alex.


End file.
